Hey guys,
Got from a VERY good, and I mean VERY good source the following:

ALL markets will be EVDO.
LTE WILL be carrying voice, and data, AT some point. Not anywhere close 4-5 years. Right now is Data only since platforms, handsets, software (technology in general) is not there yet. But definitely possible.

CAPPED markets on 3G EVDO will be capped for testing purposes, meaning its a failsafe measure not to have the network collapsed if network capacities are exceeded. Once tested stable they will be capped to the highest safe speed.

LG Esteem will land the stores in September!. Its too much of rumored out there (here) everyone knows about it and will affect sales if not released by then. No ETA set for sure yet though.

We are going to see about 13 new phones by the end of the year, including 2HTC's, Samsung and LG as manufacturers. Possible new RIM BB. Deal not finalized yet.

Hey guys,
Got from a VERY good, and I mean VERY good source the following:

ALL markets will be EVDO.

Click to expand...

Then, Metro has totally reversed numerous public statements to press and investors. They are liars and you can't trust ANYTHING they say.

I'm not unhappy EVDO is coming, but for the past two years they said over and over they were NOT going to do that and explained why.

Then this last spring they said internally to employees that a FEW markets would get EVDO to relieve stress on the network, but not all markets, because all did not need it. And those FEW markets that got EVDO would be capped and EVDO would be TEMPORARY as Metro was moving to LTE, VoLTE as soon as possible. They stressed to employees this EVDO was to help mitigate outages, not to increase speed.

So, this shows their business judgement is very flawed, that suddenly only now they realize they need to do this -- upgrade their ancient 1x RTT network to EVDO -- and the earlier plan to catapault straight to LTE from 2.5G 1X RTT was too ambitious. Their LTE-only plan is now obviously being delayed for a few years, IF your information is correct.

IF it's a change in business plan, say it. But Metro just putting out contradictory statements is what liars do. OR saying one thing, but doing another is also lying.

LTE WILL be carrying voice, and data, AT some point. Not anywhere close 4-5 years. Right now is Data only since platforms, handsets, software (technology in general) is not there yet. But definitely possible.

Click to expand...

Strange then that the MetroPCS CEO Lindquist keeps stressing this is exactly what Metro is going to do as soon as possible after going to VoLTE next year. Turn off the CDMA transmitters. I never figured it would be in one year, but I thought two years, otherwise why keep telling your customers, press and investors repeatedly this is the plan?

But then also contradictory in that they keep selling CDMA-only phones. This is like saying "I plan to lose 30 lbs. I plan to lose 30 lbs. Hey, pass me that cheesecake! And give me those brownies! "

CAPPED markets on 3G EVDO will be capped for testing purposes, meaning its a failsafe measure not to have the network collapsed if network capacities are exceeded. Once tested stable they will be capped to the highest safe speed.

Click to expand...

Don't expect the "highest safe speed" to be anything approaching regular EVDO speed from Sprint or Verizon. Metro can't make the 3G speed too good since their LTE speed is very slow -- in 3G territory. They still want to move people to LTE, so EVDO has to be capped well below that.

IF they can get it up above 384k, at least they will be above minimum 3G speed specs from the ITU. Any CDMA speed below 384k isn't "real" 3G speed, even if the "3G" icon shows. This is why 1x RTT is called "2.5G". It's based on the fact that in 1997 the ITU declared it "3G technology" but then in 2005 due to EVDO revised the 3G CDMA standards and declared 384k to acceptable minimum 3G data speed traveling in a vehicle. (even higher for stationary transmission/reception, but we'll ignore that for now.) So, as of 2005 if you can't receive/transmit at least 384k over CDMA network, you don't have real 3G speed.

This is why all the critics who said Metro didn't have 3G were in fact correct. And this is why 1x RTT started being called "2.5G". Sure there's no such thing officially as "2.5G" but how can you be 3G if you can't even meet the minimum speed? The ITU never addressed that contradiction when revising the standards in 2005. So, 1x RTT was just left hanging in the wind. Metro is the only CDMA carrier with operations in more than one state which was still using 1x RTT. All other CDMA carriers had long upgraded to EVDO.

In June of this year, 3rd party testing showed Cricket Optimus and Ascends getting average 1,000k speed in Philadelphia, while MetroPCS Optimus and Ascends getting 100k. Of course, because Cricket has real 3G speed everywhere -- even in nationwide roaming with Sprint. Whereas Metro CDAM was 1x RTT with theoretical top speeds of 150k but much less in real conditions. Even Metro's nationwide roaming with Sprint is capped at 1x RTT speeds.

LG Esteem will land the stores in September!. Its too much of rumored out there (here) everyone knows about it and will affect sales if not released by then. No ETA set for sure yet though.

Click to expand...

That's been know for two months now. Sept 26 is the most rumored date, because that's the date mentioned by corporate in meetings. If they were thinking of delaying the LG Esteem further (it was supposed to be the "mid year" LTE Android!) then that would hurt their credibility even more -- not that they have any left.

We are going to see about 13 new phones by the end of the year, including 2HTC's, Samsung and LG as manufacturers. Possible new RIM BB. Deal not finalized yet.

Click to expand...

And except for the Esteem, I bet none will be LTE?

Now that Metro has totally repudiated their former promises, looks like they are trying to release as many CDMA-only phones as possible. And if they aren't dumping CDMA in the next two years -- as they strongly hinted -- then these phones would have some lifespan. Whereas before this, it didn't make sense to buy another "obsolete" CMDA-only phone. LTE phones were all that mattered.

And they kept promising $200 LTE phones. Lindquist said "as low as $199".

IF you remember, Metro promised to release 5 or 6 LTE Androids in 2011 -- promised loudly several times straight from the mouth of now proven liar CEO Roger Lindquist. Looks like only two -- the Samsung Indulge and the LG Esteem will actually be released in 2011.

I guess will be nice for those who don't have internet access in some places. But I have 12mbps at home and 40mbps at work... What I mostly care about is having more than 100k on my Android, which is why I'm going to the LG Esteem. I'll let my wife keep the other Optimus.

Guess I haven't paid too much attention to what the different data platform's are morphing into, but I just flashed Calkulin's EViO_2_ROM_v1 and now my voice and data are a little weird.

After flashing, and connected through WiFi, my voice signal dropped to nil. The EvDo would sporadically light up.....voice signal would go to three bars when the phone goes idle, but as soon as I unlock the screen, back to nil.

Forcing the service to Verizon, via Roam Control, has no effect....nil on the signal bars. SMS texts would go out, but I was not receiving any while the EvDo was on.

Played around in the setting, Mode of Operation, I switched between "Hybrid" and EVDO-ONLY".....no change. When I switched to "1x-Only", voice signal to 3 bars and I started receiving SMS messages instantly.

Guess I haven't paid too much attention to what the different data platform's are morphing into, but I just flashed Calkulin's EViO_2_ROM_v1 and now my voice and data are a little weird.

After flashing, and connected through WiFi, my voice signal dropped to nil. The EvDo would sporadically light up.....voice signal would go to three bars when the phone goes idle, but as soon as I unlock the screen, back to nil.

Forcing the service to Verizon, via Roam Control, has no effect....nil on the signal bars. SMS texts would go out, but I was not receiving any while the EvDo was on.

Played around in the setting, Mode of Operation, I switched between "Hybrid" and EVDO-ONLY".....no change. When I switched to "1x-Only", voice signal to 3 bars and I started receiving SMS messages instantly.

Hey guys,
Got from a VERY good, and I mean VERY good source the following:

ALL markets will be EVDO.
LTE WILL be carrying voice, and data, AT some point. Not anywhere close 4-5 years. Right now is Data only since platforms, handsets, software (technology in general) is not there yet. But definitely possible.

CAPPED markets on 3G EVDO will be capped for testing purposes, meaning its a failsafe measure not to have the network collapsed if network capacities are exceeded. Once tested stable they will be capped to the highest safe speed.

LG Esteem will land the stores in September!. Its too much of rumored out there (here) everyone knows about it and will affect sales if not released by then. No ETA set for sure yet though.

We are going to see about 13 new phones by the end of the year, including 2HTC's, Samsung and LG as manufacturers. Possible new RIM BB. Deal not finalized yet.